Dhaka lacks steady policy on India, says former envoy

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Monday, 12 September 2011

Author / Source : DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT

DHAKA, SEPT 11: Bangladesh does not have a consistent foreign policy on India and Dhaka's diplomacy towards New Delhi will have to be redesigned, a former senior diplomat has said. “We don't have a consistent foreign policy on India. We will have to redesign our diplomacy towards India,” former Bangladesh Ambassador in the United States and vice president of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) Humayun Kabir told a roundtable on Sunday.
Describing Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's recent Dhaka visit as a significant movement forward in India-Bangladesh relations, he emphasised on formulating a foreign policy on India that would represent all the view points of the stakeholders. India is also having difficulties in framing a model of relationships for the region, he said, adding that India should frame such a model.
The BEI, a think tank, organised the roundtable on 'Japan and South Asia: Focus on Indo-Bangladesh Relations' at its conference room with Humayun Kabir in the chair.
South Asian expert Professor Takenori Horimoto of Japan's Shobi University presented a paper on 'Comprehending South Asia from a Global Point of View: India's Strategic, Diplomatic, Issues and her Relations with Bangladesh' while another Japanese expert, Mayumi Murayama, deputy director general of Inter-Disciplinary Studies Center, presented a paper on 'Bangladesh-India Relations and Sub-Regional Cooperation in Eastern South Asia: A Japanese Perspective'.
Describing South Asia as very important for Japan, Prof Horimoto said that the objectives of the Indian foreign policy were promotion of national interests, maintenance of independence and aspiration for major power.
“India is a status quo power of South Asia and aspires to economic power furnished with military power,” he said.
Prof Horimoto said that India's posture to its neighbours were 'giantism'.